Linley stood at the gate, his voice firm as he said, "Let Thalia out."
Marcus sneered and replied, "He won't see you. You'd better leave immediately, or we'll hand you over to the Romans."
Linley gave a disdainful smile, his confidence brimming after having just defeated an entire Roman legion, "Hand me over to the Romans? I'm just here to remind you that the Romans might be a threat to you."
"That's not your business," Marcus replied coldly.
"Alright, then goodbye," Linley said.
"Or rather, goodbye forever," Marcus said.
Linley left with his followers, walking further and further away, the surrounding scenery becoming increasingly desolate. Many of the followers had never been outside of Athens, and facing the wilderness before them, their morale sank, and they kept looking back at the glorious city of Athens.
"This place is so barren," a priest couldn't help but exclaim.
"This is nothing, where we come from is truly desolate," Bavaria said disdainfully, "Hundreds of miles of forest, completely empty, only trees, wolves, and bears."
"At least there are deer," Linley interjected.
"Deer are dangerous too, they're over two meters tall, weigh thousands of pounds, and can kick a person to death with one foot," Bavaria continued, "The wildlife here in Greece is too tame, even the wolves are weak."
His words further dampened the morale of the group. "Are we really leaving Greece for good?" Odysseus asked, voicing everyone's question.
"We will return," Linley said firmly, "No matter how long it takes, we will return to Athens."
They had no preparations, no horses, no carriages, traveling by land was impossible. Even if they weren't caught, they would be in trouble due to lack of food and water. Stealing and robbing was not an option. The best way was by sea.
Athens was a coastal city with many harbors around it. The largest harbor, the military port, was out of the question, with hundreds of warships docked there. But there were many commercial ports, with almost no garrison and no defenses, after all, there had been peace here for hundreds of years.
They hurried to a secluded fishing port and found a fishing boat ready to set sail. However, Linley felt around his body and found that he didn't have a single copper coin.
On the vast ocean, only skilled sailors could navigate the ship. Using force to intimidate was clearly not a good idea. Once an accident occurred, there wouldn't even be a chance to escape.
"A temporary task has been assigned: find a ship to sail," the system suddenly said, "Task reward, one skill or one piece of equipment."
"There are temporary tasks?" Linley asked in surprise, "But what does one skill or one piece of equipment mean?"
"The reward is randomly chosen, you'll get whatever you draw," the system explained, "This task will randomly unlock something from the divine kingdom, I don't know what it will be yet."
"How do we complete the task?" Linley asked.
"Figure it out yourself," the system replied. "There is more than one way to complete the task, and the quality of the task completion will affect the quality of the reward."
Linley pondered for a moment, telling his followers to hide and rest. He then walked to a fishing boat and asked, "Can your boat go out to sea?"
"Of course," a fisherman on the boat who was weaving a fishing net replied. "Do you want to go out to sea? Where to? As long as you have money, I can take you there."
The problem was that Linley hadn't brought any money with him, and neither did the other priests and apprentices. They had all drunk a lot of wine during the breakout and were too busy fighting to think about bringing money with them. They had taken the less-traveled roads all the way and only realized they had no money when they reached the port.
Not only that, they didn't have anything valuable, only some short swords and shields they had taken from the enemy, which might be able to fetch some money, but they were not easy to sell.
"How many people can this boat hold?" Linley asked.
"At most ten, any more and it won't be safe. The sea is rough, and too many people will easily cause the boat to capsize," the fisherman replied.
The Mediterranean Sea, with its calm waters and favorable sailing conditions, became the birthplace of prosperous trade. In contrast, both the Atlantic Ocean in Western Europe and the Pacific Ocean in China were more violent. The Indian Ocean was even more famous for its strong winds, which even led to the "Black Water Prohibition."
The people of various ethnic groups along the Mediterranean coast, relying on this unique sea area, were the first to develop navigation technology. However, even in such a favorable environment as the Mediterranean Sea, small fishing boats could not carry dozens of people on long voyages.
"Only ten?" Linley asked. "Isn't there a bigger boat? We have dozens of people."
"Dozens of people? These fishing boats won't do, you need to find a special big ship," the fisherman replied.
Big ships were not easy to find; the big ships of this era were either merchant ships or warships, usually with official backgrounds. If Linley's group was discovered to be followers of Dionysus, they might be betrayed.
"Then can we take several boats together?" Linley continued to ask.
"As long as you are willing to pay, no problem. Our village has a dozen fishing boats," the fisherman said.
"Take me to your village," Linley decided.
The small fishing village was not large, with dozens of small houses scattered along the coast, the most prominent being the Poseidon Sea God Temple. The villagers were gathered around the temple, their voices buzzing with concern.
Linley walked closer and saw that a huge crack had opened in the statue of the sea god in the temple, revealing a ruby in the heart of the statue.
The fishermen worshipped the sea god, but the statue contained such a precious ruby, worth at least a hundred gold coins. The villagers here earned only one or two gold coins a year from fishing, after deducting food and boat wear and tear.
"What happened?"
"Why is the statue of the sea god like this?"
"Is something going to happen?"
"Last time the statue cracked a small crack, there was a big wind for three days."
"What should we do?"
"Let the village head seek divine guidance, where is the village head?"
"The village head has been feeling uncomfortable these past few days..."
"The village head is here! The village head is here!"
An old man with a white beard came limping with a cane, and the villagers immediately surrounded him, talking about what had happened. Earlier, a gust of wind had blown through, and the statue of the sea god suddenly cracked.
As this small fishing village lacked a dedicated priest, the village head assumed the role. He walked to the statue of the sea god, took out a blank piece of parchment, put it in the wooden box in front of the statue of the sea god, knelt down and said, "I humbly request your divine guidance, Sea God!"
After saying that, he kowtowed deeply, and waited a long time, but the box remained motionless.